Passaris wants detectives to probe Sonko’s per diem claims

What you need to know:

  • Ms Passaris said none of the accusations and insinuations by Governor Sonko during a live TV show are true.
  • She said she will be visiting the DCI, EACC and NCIC to clear the air on per diem claims.
  • On claims that she invited Sonko to her room in a city hotel, Ms Passaris accused the governor of taking things out of context.

Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris has invited investigative agencies to probe allegations levelled against her by Governor Mike Sonko, vowing that “this will be the last time her integrity is questioned with falsehoods”.

Ms Passaris, who said she is “ashamed of people who tell horrific lies”, revealed that she will be visiting the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to clear the air that she twice claimed per diem for the same trip.

Speaking at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi on her arrival from a women’s conference in Vancouver, Canada, Ms Passaris said none of the accusations and insinuations by Governor Sonko during a live TV show are true.

PROBE ALLEGATIONS

“It is very simple for the DCI and EACC to investigate every one of the allegations against me and be able to deal with them. I shall be visiting the office of the DCI, EACC, NCIC and the Gender commission after I have consulted with my lawyers and relevant government officers.

“I am not letting this go and this is the last time I am letting anyone question my integrity with falsehoods,” added Ms Passaris.

She implored the investigative agencies to take up the matter as it is a complaint by a senior state officer, calling on Mr Sonko to go and present evidence that she claimed per diem twice for the said conference.

FALSEHOODS

“We have laws and rules in this country and I will use every single rule and law, guided by the Constitution, to ensure that this will be the last time that somebody uses falsehoods to bring down a woman or a woman leader,” she said.

Ms Passaris explained that the National Assembly never sponsored her for the event and there is no way she could have claimed for a per diem from them.

She said that it was City Hall that sponsored her after her request to Governor Sonko who promised to foot her per diem, which to date has not been paid.

“The National Assembly never sponsored me for the event and he (Sonko) should show letters indicating that I claimed (for the money) twice. For me, I think it is important that the governor speaks the truth and not to lie and dramatize things,” said the Nairobi woman rep.

OUT OF CONTEXT

On claims that she invited Mr Sonko to her room in a city hotel, Ms Passaris accused the governor of taking things out of context, saying that she only responded to him after he inquired whether she would be available for an induction for MPs at the hotel.

“The governor called me to inquire whether I was there because there were fears that ODM MPs will give the function a wide berth and I said that I had already checked in. I would like the hotel to access my private data for the induction,” she said.

On accusations that she attacked Sonko in her speech during Madaraka Day celebrations, the MP said there is nowhere in her speech that she complained that the governor was not picking her calls, wondering what he was responding to and where the issue came from.

“I am not ashamed of anything. The only thing I am ashamed of are people who can tell horrific lies forgetting that they have women in their lives. When a woman is accused in public and she never responds then it is perceived that everything that has been said is correct,” said Ms Passaris.